There Is Only One Expectation…..Win It All

Travis Lee signing adds last piece of puzzle
for Yankees heading into 2004 season




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
February 25, 2004

Welcome to the 2004 edition of the New York Yankees. It has been an extremely busy off-season for George Steinbrenner’s wallet and Brian Cashman’s telephone. This year’s edition of the Bronx Bombers is very different than the version that left spring training a year ago. Gone are David Wells, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Raul Mondesi, Alfonso Soriano, Nick Johnson, Bubba Trammell, Sterling Hitchcock, Chris Hammond and Jeff Weaver. Newly arrived are Jon Lieber, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Kenny Lofton, Javier Vasquez, Tom Gordon, Paul Quantrill, Travis Lee and, of course, the crowning acquisition of the hot stove season, Alex Rodriguez.

That’s a lot of talent out the door and a lot of talent walking back through the door. Two completely different teams. However, the one constant, the one common denominator both of these teams share is [b]expectation.[/b]

The New York Yankees are expected every year to win the World Series championship. Anything less is considered a failed season by everyone from owner George Steinbrenner, to the fans, to the players and to the media. If the Bombers don’t win it all, then it doesn’t matter if the team won 100 games during the regular season. The season is still a failure.

Twenty-six times in their 100-year history the Yankees have climbed the mountain of major league baseball and planted their flag on the peak. The Yankees have played in the World Series a total of thirty-nine times. So in the minds of the Yankees that’s 13 years of failure. For any other team thirty-nine trips to the fall classic would be an incredible accomplishment. However, in Yankee Land it’s only incredible when they win.

Take the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Was there ever a more agonizing loss? It took Mariano Rivera nearly two years to shake off the stigma of giving up the Game 7, game-winning single to Luis Gonzalez. That might never have happened had third baseman Scott Brosius stepped on third base and then thrown to first for a inning ending double play. He stepped on third, but never looked at first base. It was a costly mental lapse and the rest was history. In 2002 the Yankees had the best record in baseball with 103 wins during the regular season. The team was dumped in the first round by the eventual World Series champion Anaheim Angels. Failure! Last year, everyone was practically giving the World Series trophy to the Yankees. Who were these upstart Florida Marlins anyway? Well, six games later the Yankees and the world found out who they were. Again, failure.

It has now been four years since the Yankees last planted their flag on the peak. Yes, they’ve been to the World Series two other times, but as I said they lost. They underachieved. There are a lot of new players on this new team and all are “expected” to win it all. In no other city are the expectations that high year-in-and-year-out. There is no rebuilding period. There is only retooling for the next campaign. These guys will soon learn that in the world of New York Yankees baseball second place is the first loser. Nowhere on any wall will you see anything that suggests failing, underachieving or losing. It’s all about winning, and winning equates to collecting World Series rings.

Mystique and Aura will, again, be appearing nightly at Yankee Stadium. The 2004 team will get to meet them up close and personal. With the donning of Yankee pinstripes comes the responsibility of winning, and that means winning it all. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this year’s team stays strong and healthy. No rotator cuff injuries, no separated shoulders, no tears in knees, no anything that will keep this team from fulfilling it’s expected destiny. That is a date on October 23rd in the Fall Classic and later a ride down the “Canyon of Heroes,” riding on a few floats and holding onto that big, golden trophy with minature flags affixed all around it. Nothing less will do.


PLAY BALL!



(c) 2004 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story is prohibited without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop and it's affilitates

God Is Indeed A Yankees’ Fan

Series of misfortunes and luck lead to Bombers signing A-Rod




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
February 19, 2004

If there was ever a case of believing there is an omni-present being overseeing the events that happen on this granite rock called Earth, then look no further than the signing of Alex Rodriguez by the New York Yankees. Personally, I believe God is in control of things and I also believe He is a big fan of the New York Yankees. Tommy Lasorda is famous for his “Blue Heaven” and “Big Dodger in the sky” rants, but let me tell you something Tommy, Heaven is painted with blue alright, but it’s in the form of pinstripes. The guy running Heaven is no Dodger, because I am convinced He watches the New York Yankees.

Let’s go back to the beginning of the Hot Stove season. As usual the Yankees and Boston Red Sox went at each other across the board rooms like Grant and Lee used to go at it on the battlefields. Boston scored the first big blow of the winter by signing Curt Schilling away from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Yankees were interested in Schill, but I think Curt would rather be against them than for them so he opted for Fenway. Fine. The Yankees counter with the signings of Javier Velasquez of the Montreal Expos and Kevin Brown of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In exchange for those players the Yankees send Nick Johnson, Randy Choate and Juan Rivera to Montreal and beleaguered right-hander Jeff Weaver to Los Angeles.

Additionally, the Red Sox and the Texas Rangers enter into negotiations whereby the Red Sox would send left fielder Manny Ramirez to the Rangers in exchange for Alex Rodriguez. The Rangers, in an obvious money saving move, want the Red Sox to take Rodriguez’ huge salary off their hands, while subsidizing Ramirez’ salary with a $5 million a year tribute. Boston says no. They continue to try and tweak A-Rod’s contract in order to satisfy both sides. They finally think they have it done, when the MLBPA steps in and rejects the trade, saying they will not agree to any significant changes in the crown jewel of all major sports contracts. The talks died.

The Yankees received bad news of their own as newly signed third baseman Aaron Boone injured his left knee in a game of pick up basketball. The injury was extensive enough to guarantee that Boone would not make it to Spring Training and might not play the entire season. So the Yankees scramble and sign journeyman third baseman Mike Lamb from the Rangers to play third.

Meanwhile the signings continue between the two teams. Boston re-signs Trot Nixon, a noted Yankee killer, David Ortiz and Ellis Burks. They also land closer Keith Foulke from the Oakland Athletics. The Yankees weren’t staying quiet. They sign Gary Sheffield, Kenny Lofton and Tony Clark. They re-sign Gabe White, Felix Heredia and add Paul Quantrill of the Dodgers to shore up their leaky bullpen. They also avoid arbitration with Alfonso Soriano by signing him to a one-year $5.4 million contract. Both the Red Sox and Bombers look pretty well set to go into the 2004 season. It appears like the East Division will be a dogfight, with both Baltimore and Toronto making noises during the upcoming campaign.

Up until last Saturday, which was Valentine’s Day, all was quiet on the Boston and New York fronts. The last bit of trade information floating around was the Yankees’ interest in acquiring defensive first baseman Travis Lee, late of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. However, things were soon to erupt. The New York Post broke a story saying the Yankees were making a serious bid to sign Alex Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers. Like a shifty riverboat gambler the Yankees’ brain trust kept calling each Boston Red Sox move. Now, out of nowhere they were raising the stakes. The Post reported, which eventually proved to be all too true, the Yankees would send 2B Alfonso Soriano and a player-to-be-named-later to the Texas Rangers in exchange for the reigning AL MVP. Rodriguez accepted a change to play third base, leaving SS Derek Jeter where he was. That was a huge obstacle in any trade talks. Moreover, the Rangers agreed to send $67 million along with Rodriguez to the Yankees to help offset the cost of A-Rod’s contract. The MLBPA quickly approved of the deal, which then put it on the desk of Commissioner Bud Selig. On Monday, Selig reluctantly gave his approval and the deal was sealed. The Yankees had their man.

Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium Rodriguez’ new team proudly introduced him to the media. Afterwards, the howls from Boston could be heard from hither-and-yon. Red Sox owner John Henry, in an e-mail to reporters said baseball “needed to deal with team that has gone so far insanely beyond the resources of all other teams.” Additionally, Henry stated, “One thing is certain the status quo will not be preserved. There must be a way to cap what a team can spend without hurting player compensation ... without taking away from the players what they have rightfully earned in the past through negotiation and in creating tremendous value. There is a simple mechanism that could right a system woefully out of whack.”

George Steinbrenner, never at a loss for words, fired back. ``We understand that John Henry must be embarrassed, frustrated and disappointed by his failure in this transaction.” The Boss wasn’t finished. ``Unlike the Yankees, he chose not to go the extra distance for his fans in Boston, Steinbrenner said.'' And finally, this little salvo, “``It is understandable, but wrong that he would try to deflect the accountability for his mistakes on to others and to a system for which he voted in favor. It is time to get on with life and forget the sour grapes.''

Since this exchange, the Commissioners Office has issued a gag order to both owners and teams. It is amazing that all the owners say they hate the Yankees spending, but they sure don’t hate it when the Yankees come to their towns. The Yankees, year in and year out, have the best road attendance record in baseball. All those concessions and extra ticket sales bail out a lot of teams. Let’s not forget the Yankees paid around $50 million in revenue sharing and another $12 million in luxury taxes last season. The Yankees pay for their expenditures.
Boston and a lot of other teams cry and whine about New York “buying championships.” Hogwash. The Yankees have more home grown players on their team right now than do the Red Sox. Boston’s tried to buy championships and the reason it doesn’t work is Steinbrenner works harder at it. No owner in any sport wants to win more than the Boss.

So getting back to the omni-presence, better known as God, I truly want to thank Him for being a fan of the Yankees. I want to thank Him for Aaron Boone, who has twice stuck it to the Red Sox. First with his now famous home run and more for blowing out his knee. Without that injury Alex Rodriguez would still be playing in Texas. Thanks for giving us George Steinbrenner, who may have major personality faults, but not wanting to put a winner on the field isn’t one of them. Thanks for John Henry balking at throwing a couple of extra million dollars Texas’ way. Thanks for 100 years of Yankees baseball. Here’s to the next 100 years. The 2004 season is going to be a fun one to watch. I can hardly wait. Can you?


PLAY BALL!



(c) 2004 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story is prohibited without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop and it's affilitates

Yankees Talk Shop welcomes Akino, better known as Bombergirl to the YTS team. Akino is a longtime member of this site


A-Rod in Pinstripes: Putting it in Perspective

Trade caps off Hot Stove season in a big way, but the real season is what matters

By: Akino Yamashita
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
February 18, 2004

So the blockbuster deal is done. The papers have been signed, the new #13 Jerseys have been sewn up, and the press conference was held yesterday, Tuesday, February 17, 2003. Alex Rodriguez, once the best player in baseball playing on one of the worst teams, is now a member of the New York Yankees.

There's been so much media coverage of this deal that there probably isn't much more left to write about it, though I'll try. Everyone seems to have an opinion about the A-Rod trade. We've heard from the President. We've heard from Ben Affleck, who may be more broken up about the Boston Red Sox's failure to sign A-Rod themselves than the fizzling of his romance with J-Lo. And of course, we've heard from the fans, both confident Yankee fans and despondent Yankee haters. This message is meant for both of those groups.

First of all, the A-Rod acquisition in no way guarantees the Yankees anything. Does it give them a huge advantage in the AL East? Sure, and I'd feel confident in predicting that the Yankees will win their division again, as they have since 1996. But the results of the last three postseasons should make apparent that October is a whole different season. Remember that the Yankees' recent run of World Series championships has been built on three things: 1. Solid starting pitching. 2. Clutch hitting. 3. Mariano Rivera. Note that the words "record-setting homerun hitter" don't appear on that list. And while the value of a good defense is hard to measure, it's quite possible that A-Rod's glove may be almost as important as his bat, at least when it comes to the "second season". It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to playing third base.

It would be fair to say that the Yankees may now have the most feared line-up in baseball. How do you pitch around Derek Jeter, when you know that Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez are warming up in the dugout? Don't forget Bernie Williams, either. Hideki Matsui may not be as Godzilla-like in power as he was in Japan, but he was also a solid contributor last year.

But it's also fair to air out that old cliche, "Great pitching beats good hitting." The Yankees' lineup was nothing to laugh at in 2003, either, but found themselves shut down in the last game of the World Series by Josh Beckett. On the converse, pitching problems can cost you dearly. An unexpected early exit by David Wells could be said to have changed the flow of that series, as well as an eyebrow-raising managerial decision that led to Jeff Weaver serving up a crucial homerun that lost a crucial game.

Wells and Weaver are both long gone, but so are two pitchers that were important parts of the pitching rotation last year; Andy Pettite and Roger Clemens, both gone "home" to Houston. No longer can Yankee fans blithely claim that "We have FOUR Aces!" The rotation is full of question marks. Mike Mussina can be expected to be a steady presence, but I can't say with 100% certainty that Kevin Brown can stay healthy, or that Jose Contreras can be more consistent, or that John Leiber can shake off the rust from a year, or that Jose Vasquez can adjust to playing in New York City. Unfortunately, Alex Rodriguez can't do much to address those questions.

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm trying to comfort the enemy, whether you define that as the division rival Red Sox, or the sad-sack cross-town Mets, or Chris "Mad Dog" Russo and his so-called "Crack Committee" of Yankee-haters. I just don't care to hear too much more grumbling that the A-Rod trade means that Bud Selig might as well cancel the season and personally slip 2004 World Series rings on the fingers of the Yankees. The trade does not prove that the Yankees are the Evil Empire, or that competitive imbalance is taking all the fun out of the game. Do the Yankees have a definite advantage when it comes to payroll, revenue, market, fanbase? Sure. But here's the thing. It's only competitive imbalance if it works. No one is complaining about the economic advantage enjoyed by the New York Rangers. I haven't heard any talk of "Darth Dolan", even though the Blueshirts front office seems to acquire a new superstar every season, whether it's Jagr, Bure, Lindros, or...hmm, remember when the Rangers got Gretzky, the greatest player EVER to play hockey? That got the New York Rangers about as far to a championship as A-Rod got the Texas Rangers to one. The Yankees' payroll has gone up every season, especially the past three seasons...and the Yankees have been bereft of World Series championships for three years. Who won the World Series in those years? The debt-ridden Diamondbacks, the overlooked low-budget Angels, and the perhaps even more over-looked low-budget Marlins. After all, while both the Angels and Marlins started their championship seasons with losing records, the Angels didn't change managers mid-season.

So, for any non-Yankee baseball fan who's thinking of shutting off the TV, canceling their season ticket plan, or leaving the country in protest; please don't. Not that it affects me much if you do, but it affects you. I'm no psychic, but I can almost guarantee that you'll be missing an exciting, spectacular season. And not just for Yankee fans.

And to the Yankee fans; getting A-Rod was great. We'll have the enjoyment of watching not one, but TWO high-caliber, Cooperstown-bound infielders exhibit their graceful defensive moves, and you can bet that most of the Yankee at-bats are NOT going to be a good time to take a bathroom break or line up at the hot dog stand. Even though the bottom line for the Yankees is to win it all at the end, no one said we couldn't have fun along the way.

Baseball is coming. It's almost here. And in the end, it doesn't matter how the teams shape up on the paper. What matters is what happens on the field. And I'm eager to see for myself what does.



(c) 2004 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story is prohibited without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop and it's affilitates

Sox Stuck Again

Yankees grab A-Rod in blockbuster trade; Soriano to Texas




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
February 15, 2004


Once again, the Yankees have stuck it to the Boston Red Sox. In a monster “in-your-face” move the Yankees have obtained the services of all-star shortstop Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez, arguably the best player in baseball, was the subject of a hot trade that would have sent him to the Boston Red Sox for their all-star left fielder Manny Ramirez. Unfortunately for the Sox the MLBPA would not allow the crown jewel of all contracts to be restructured. They nixed the deal and the trade fell by the wayside.

One thing I’ve learned about the Yankees over the years is it is always the trade rumors you never hear about that get done. In a master stroke the Yankees put up a great smoke screen. After third baseman Aaron Boone blew up his Yankees’ career by blowing out his knee the Yankees went out and signed journeyman third baseman Mike Lamb to take Boone’s place. It was figured that the Yankees just needed a warm glove at the corner as the team would depend on the other eight guys to drive the offense. No one suspected Texas Ranger owner Tom Hicks would call the Yankees and propose a trade involving their newly named captain. No one saw it coming.

Yesterday, in a sports scoop coup the New York Post first reported the possibility of the trade. The Yankees would send all-star second baseman Alfonso Soriano and a player to-be-named-later to the Rangers for Rodriguez. The Yankees, in accepting the deal, will be on the hook for most of Rodriguez’ remaining contract. That would be seven years at around $179 million. However, along with sending Rodriguez the Rangers will send $60 million in cash. This will reduce the Yankees’ payment to Rodriguez from around $25 million per year to about $16 million.

As much as most Yankees’ fans love Alfonso Soriano there is just no downside to this trade. We’re getting the best player in baseball. And with Rodriguez agreeing to move over to third base it will give the Yankees one of the most powerful infields in history. A line up made up of Kenny Lofton, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui has me drooling like Saint Bernard right now. The loss of Roger Clemens and Andy Petttite doesn’t seem so painful now.

As one might surmise the Red Sox nation is in a state of shock today. The Boston papers are bemoaning how the “Evil Empire” has done it to them again. However, even Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino was impressed with the trade. “There comes a time when you have to tip your cap to your adversary,” Lucchino said.

Let’s make a disclaimer here. As great as this trade is and as big an impact it will apparently have on the balance of power in the East Division obtaining Alex Rodriguez guarantees the Yankees and their fans nothing. Keep in mind we let a first baseman named Tino Martinez go and signed a powerhouse named Jason Giambi. Martinez won four rings in his six years with the Bombers and Giambi has none. This team still has to go out and play 162 games and it has to beat its opponents head-to-head. On paper the Yankees look darned near invincible, but even paper can be shredded. So, while I am as happy as the next Yankee fan about this trade I want to temper my enthusiasm with a dose of reality.

Welcome aboard Alex. I have no doubt you will be a force in pinstripes. Welcome to all that is the New York Yankees. Now go out and do us proud.


PLAY BALL!


(c) 2004 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story is prohibited without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop and it's affilitates